I’m a big fan of homemade broth and it is one of the first foods my babies get. I use it often in cooking and sometimes just drink a mug of it. Thanks to the Instant Pot, it has gotten even easier to to make homemade bone broth … but as busy moms we all need shortcuts we can feel good about and I recently found a non-perishable bone broth that I always keep on hand!

Today I’m talking with Justin Mares, one of the founders of Kettle & Fire, who tells the story of why he and his brother Nick chose to get into the business of making better bone broth commercially available.

I’m sure making and packaging “real” bone broth was a challenge. This stuff gels up just the way homemade would in the fridge … and I can’t think of any other packaged bone broths I can say that about!

Kettle & Fire: Beginnings

Most of us probably started our journey into wellness and better food because of a health problem that needed solving. Justin Mares and his brother Nick were no different. Nick experienced a knee injury, and Justin (like a good brother) started looking for ways to help his recovery process.

Some of Justin’s Crossfit friends recommended bone broth to speed joint and ligament healing, and so the quest began. As the brothers learned more about the gelatin, amino acids, and minerals that make bone broth so great, they also realized they wanted a shortcut option that didn’t take hours to make at home.

There didn’t seem to be much available. Shelf-stable bone broth wasn’t simmered in the way it is in your kitchen, didn’t gel, contained additives and preservatives, and often didn’t come from grass-fed organic sources.

Through trial and error Justin and Nick pursued their dream of a better bone broth, and Kettle & Fire, the first shelf-stable, long-simmered commercial bone broth from only organic grass-fed sources, was born.

Resources We Mention

Thanks to Today’s Podcast Sponsors

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This episode is also sponsored by The Wellness Mama Cookbook. I came up with these recipes for my own family, so they’re quick, easy, packed with veggies and fruits, and definitely kid-approved. They’re also mom-approved, and here’s why.

Like all of you, I’m a busy mom. I made sure the majority of the Wellness Mama Cookbook recipes can be made in under 30 minutes and many of them only one pan (who wants to wash dishes?). All of my 200+ grain-free recipes replace processed sugar and flour with nutrient-dense foods and vegetables kids love!

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Reader Interactions

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Reader Comments

Myra Cromersays:1

I love this bone broth. I am all most 70 and have some problems with my right knee and since I have been drinking 8 to 16 oz’s of this broth a day, the knee is feeling so much better and does not go snap crackle and pop as much as it did before the broth.

I get very confused with all the bone broth info out there. What I would like to find is an organic, gelling non-beef/pork product. Would like to make some gummies but not use a beef product. Is there such a thing?

I can not have any MSG or derivatives of MSG because of a rare disorder. If a product is truly free of MSG or derivatives of MSG the individual spice will be listed individually. The issue isn’t MSG (the most palatable form of glutamate) the issue is free glutamic acid, its prevalence in foods. Exposure to excessive dietary glutamate can cause nerve cells to fire UNTIL THEY DIE.

There chicken broth has MSG at the end of the ingredients you will see organic spices. SPICES in any for is MSG. There beef has all the individual spices listed no organic spices. A shame I do not get sick from the beef but get extremely sick from the chicken broth. for one week and it was horrific.

The beef is very good but I make my own chicken, beef and turkey bone broth.

Vital Proteins (https://wellnessmama.com/go/gelatin/) makes a marine collagen that comes from fish but it doesn’t gel, unfortunately. I don’t know of a good and truly safe non mammal gelatin that works

Would this Bone Broth be a good option to give toy 6 month old baby? I have not started him on solid foods yet. He has only been breast fed . After reading your article on baby first foods, I wanted to start of with bone broth. How much do you recommend I give my 6 month old son during a feeding and how many times a day? Thank you!

Hello, GREAT information! Very helpful. I bought bone broth online from a couple places but they didn’t gel. Doesn’t that mean they’re lacking collagen and gelatin? FYI: Later I bought some homemade frozen chicken stock and it did gel, plus, it tasted a lot better — but, it’s more expensive. But, does it provide the same benefits as the bone broth?

I just found out that my local Sprout’s started selling Kettle & Fire Bone Broth. 🙂 I am 7 months pregnant. How much bone broth do you recommend I consume daily/weekly? I also just started adding 1-2 scoops of Vital Protein Collagen Peptides to my daily morning smoothies, it that makes a difference. Thanks so much!

What do you think about Ancient Nutrition bone broth, powdered? Had been using that a bit, but then heard that it could be unsafe for kids with immune issues? Also, how do I find out what to feed our family every day to make sure we are getting everything we need? Thanks!